End of an Era

Hey everyone, sorry for the length of time between posts but it has been a crazy week for us as we wrap up our ministry at Newton.

Last Tuesday was our last youth group night with our students. It was a very special time for us. Our youth leaders turned the night into a celebration of our time at Newton. It started with a slideshow of pictures over the past 5 years. Then they brought us up to the front and had an open mic time. Student after student came up and shared a funny memory (there were lots) or a story of how God used us in their life. One of the girls in the youth group got everyone in the youth group to write us a note or a special letter. We will always treasure those. Thanks for the Rosemary.

Then after they shared their stories they had a special gift for us. Among the youth group they took up a private offering for us that totalled almost $700. We were floored! We have developed a little tradition in our youth group that whenever someone leaves our youth group we gather around them as a group, lay hands on them, and pray for them, commissioning them as our missionaries. So they group gathered around us and prayed for us. Asking that God would use us to bless others the way they have been blessed by God through us.

Then we finished off the night crying more, hugging more, taking pictures and eating food. Kellee and I stayed up until 1:30 that night reading notes and letters, remembering great times, and just being so thankful that God brought us to Newton. What an unbelievable time it has been!

Here are some pictures of that night...

Me and Kellee cutting our cake.

Me rubbing cake in Kellee's face. She got me back though, that is why I look like a retard in the rest of the pictures. It's because I got a whole piece of chocolate cake mashed my way

Kellee, Emilee, Kerri, and Kathleen Kellee, Bethany (she is our babysitter), and Emilee

Kellee, Emilee, Tammy, Katie, Rosie, Vanessa, and Amy
Me and my neice Kathleen

Me and Troy

Me and Joe

Me, Emilee, Kathryn, Clarke, and Matt

Me and Tammy

Me, Jessica, and Andrea

Me, Amy, Emily (she babysits for us sometimes too), and Kianna

Me, Rosemary, and Gareth

Me and Amy (i have a chocolate cake moustache thanks to Kellee)

Me, Cameron, and TJ

Me and Jessica Wiebe

Me and Matt

Me and Bethany

Me and Katie

Our Group

I remember we started as a group of 12 disjointed students 5 years ago. Now they are loving, caring, Christ-centred community. Gonna Miss these Guys!

These were unbelievable times, and every students in this picture has a story about God, and we have had the privilege of being a part in those stories. They will not be forgotten, and my prayer for them is that they would always love Jesus, always love others, and always dream of how they can change the world. See you guys!

Soon I will be posting about our farewell Sunday and the retreat we just got back from.

The Pumpkin Patch

Our pumpkin patch adventure. It was a perfect day. A little mud and no rain. The kids had a blast.

I Love Autumn

I love autumn. Especially in Ontario! The boys are really enjoying preschool, and mommy is too. It is a wonderful break that get to spend with Emilee for a couple hours every week. The boys had picture day today at preschool, so they were all dressed up. I thought I would talk advantage of it. Emilee is a drooling machine!
Thanksgiving at the Samson's
This is Tyler and JJ's idea of a good time (wrestling...all the time).

Our little Pilgrim

Re-sigh

Hey everyone, it has been a bit since our last update. Things have been pretty wild around our house lately. This past weekend was a real tough one for us. On Thursday night I announced to our deacons board that we would be resigning. Saturday I told our youth leaders. Sunday morning I told our youth before church. And then at the end of the service we told the congregation. It was pretty much brutal. Lots of tears and emotions that are really hard to even express but we know that God has been leading us down this path. Our ministry at Newton ends on October 31st.

What is next for us? We don't know. As of October 31st are jobless. We have been talking with a church about the possibility of us being their youth pastor and we are hoping that will work out. However if they decided they would like to go in another direction we have nothing else lined up, which would probably mean me having to get a 'regular' job for a bit while we look at other options.

Either way it is our hope that we will be able to take a significant break between whatever we end up doing. We have been advised to take 3 months off. We have no idea how to make that happen but we feel it is necessary.

As you can see there are several ???'s in our life right now, but that is part of faith in Jesus. We know that he was releasing us from Newton and we listened, so we will continue to do that in the steps ahead. Your prayers are welcomed!